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BPO Off Topic Forum => Anything Non-Dog Related => : Scootergirl December 07, 2005, 06:25:28 PM
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Alright crew, you've never failed me before. I need your help once again. . .
My husband cannot put any weight on his broken leg for another 3-4 months. He is incredibly bored and depressed. He is frustrated that he cannot find anything productive to do. He's sick of television and is getting SO CRABBY it's driving me crazy.
Aside from refilling his prescription for Prozac, what kinds of things can he do to keep himself interested and busy? He needs to feel like he's accomplishing something.
I tried to get him to put together our "doggie bags" for the dog parade tomorrow, but when i stopped in at 3:00 he had less than 1/2 of them done and was watching the history channel with a scowl on his face and yelling at Oasis for no particular reason.
Any ideas? Work at home businesses? Something volunteer he can do sitting down??
HELP!!
jeanne
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Have him give selling something on e-bay a try, it may lead to an on-line store.
Lisa
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The only thing that comes to mind is what I have been doing for the last couple weeks.....scan ning EVERY picture that my family has taken....going back over 50 years. See I am keeper of the family albums and I got the bright idea that they should be scanned and shared with EVERYONE. Well it was a great idea and I'm glad I did it but it was very time consuming. Now I am working on my albums and pictures that never made it out of a shoebox.
Cindy
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I have an online store. He's not very computer-savvy, but I could get him to take some pictures of stuff I have to sell that I haven't got up yet. It would clean out the office and he'd like that.
Ok, what else??
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Cool, I would love to look at your site. Great to have another e-retailer on BPO. I just check out the site, very very cool.
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This will sound crazy, but I SWEAR to you it's the truth.
My dad is so Type A, he's Type AAAAAAAAAA. He cannot for the life of hiim stand to sit and not be doing something. He just can't do it.
When I was 10, Dad had an industrial accident that crushed his right hand. The angels were with him that night, and the doc in the ER when he was brought in was new--had just finished his residency in SLC, UT--and he knew of some surgeons there who he thought could put Dad's hand back in some kind of working order. Well, long story (really a lot of stories) short, they could, but it took them 3 and a half years--37 major surgeries in 39 months. Obviously, Dad wasn't working. And had to have something to do. Something he could do one handed when he was in a cast, but something that he could use for PT when he wasn't.
His mother gave him a latchhook rug kit. He poo-poo'ed it, BUT--he got bored enough to try it.
He latchhooks like a fiend to this day. I have a latchhook framed on my wall that he made for me a couple of years ago, and I have probably a dozen different ones that aren't framed at the moment packed in boxes in my stuff that's at their house. He even got one of his friends who's an artist to come up with a design from scratch so he could latchhook wall hangings for the family of the SL Temple for Christmas one year. I think the biggest project he's done has been like a 5' x 8' area rug, but it may be bigger than that--it might be 6' x 10'. I know he has ambitions to do an area rug to put in the dining room. Mom has yet to agree to a design for such a thing, however.
Go to Michael's and get Johann a latchhook kit and a latchhook at the craft store. It's easy to learn, but it's great in that 1) it's REALLY portable--when he's well he could take it in the truck to do during his downtime; 2) pretty cheap :) 3) you can do projects of all kinds of sizes--from a throwpillow to literally an area rug; 4) you can pick it up and put it down on a whim, and come back to it 5 years later without any damage; 5) it will keep his hands busy during football games and keep him from eating so much junk food!
And if he hates it, one of your kids will have a ball with it. It IS fun. I think it's a lot more fun than knitting or crocheting. When forced to do crafty things for Christmas presents, I would far rather latchhook than knit, crochet, MUCH prefer it to sewing and it's WAY better than scrapbooking!
If he really likes it, and gets really fast, you can sell his rugs on your e-store....
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Does he do any drawing or painting? How about wood carving? Video games are ok, but not very productive, and some of them will make you even madder because they're so hard to complete!!! :D I've done some rug-hooking myself, and even though I never got so Pro at it that I sold them, I made a few cheap Christmas gifts for people.(Had a motorcycle wreck once and was laid up in a cast for a while)
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Does your husband enjoy reading? Would he like to tutor online?
Deena
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Would he like to tutor online?
OH, OH, OH!!
Join Barnes and Noble online and take their free classes! You can usually get the books at the library for free! My bff LOVES Barnes and Noble University!
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I know when my grandpa fell off a wall (don't ask) and had to wear one of those metal halos' screwed into his head, he started doing jigsaw puzzles.
Does he like crossword? He could do those paint-by-number things......lo l.
The classes online is a great idea. Alot of schools right now do online classes, or he could do a correspondence course. He could become a doctor and fix himself. ;D
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Does he like video games. I think some video stores rent the whole PS2 or xboxes as well. I know it is not very educational but it would occupy some time.
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Cool, I would love to look at your site. Great to have another e-retailer on BPO. I just check out the site, very very cool.Â
My store doesn't have much in it right now, but it's called "2 broke friends" and, of course, has a picture of rocko and oasis on it.
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these are all such great ideas!! He used to do model rockets when he was growing up and I suggested that to him, but he shook his head, same with just about everything else mentioned here.
He pretty much laughed himself silly at the latch hook idea (sorry, NODOG), but I remember doing latch hook all the time when I was growing up and you are SO right - time flies by when you start it. It's very consuming when you start to see the project coming together.
He did seem interested in the Barnes and Nobles classes though so we are going to check those out now.
Thanks! Keep those ideas coming. He really just wants to get back to work, but since that's not possible I have to find something that makes him feel like he's contributing something, I guess. Not an easy task. I'm about ready to break his other leg!
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i happen to have a depressed borken-boyriend that drives me crazy. he broke his foot 2 years ago. walking across a street in the dark he got run over. anyhow, he has been in and out of casts, had surgery once already, and needs it again in january. The worst part is that it is his clutch foot, and we both drive manual transmission cars... so no driving for 2 months after surgery.. at least. This makes working nearly impossible for him, so, he is home all day too.
This is how he keeps busy... he does chores! it is great. he is also about to take online courses to work towards his degree at a local community college. Oh, and lots of vidio games and books.
The ideas might not work for your hubbie, but at least you know you aren't alone in this situation!!!
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Does he like to write? read? Does he like art?
Something that is not technically productive, but I think is productive in that it strengthens your brain, is doing puzzles. If traditional crossword puzzles aren't his thing you can buy him a soduku book to try out (it is a new kind of puzzle that requires no prior knowledge and relies on puzzling skills). There are also lots of brain teaser books and such.
Another thing I would suggest is signing up for netflix. Someone I know did this when they were on short term disability. It's not productive, but it does give you something to look forward to every day. He can pick out all the movies he's always wanted to see or old favorites, and if you watch one a day and return it right away, you will always have one with the 3 or 4 disk at a time plan.
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Video Games, Porn, Star Wars Saga/Lord of the Rings Trilogy/Indiana Jones Trilogy/The Matrix Trilogy/Aliens Quadrilogy DVDs (and maybe a bunch of comedy films too so he'll laugh), Sketch Book and pencil, Rosetta Stone Linguistic programs (he could learn ANY language quickly), comic books or Heavy Metal magazine, classic Novels, Porn. That's all that come to my mind right now, any of those things would be great if I were laid up. It's great opportunity for him to watch, read, learn or create anything that might have ever interested him. Sitting idle, watching regular TV, will make anybody crazy after a while. Hope this helps!
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He pretty much laughed himself silly at the latch hook idea
Yeah, so did Dad until he got hooked (pun intended.) ;D ;D
I'm glad it made him laugh. I know how grouchy Dad used to get when he was in a cast, and HE could walk around and do pretty much anything he could manage left handed. If it had been his leg and not his hand? I think we'd have smothered Dad in his sleep before it was all said and done!
You could always buy a little small latchhook kit and just leave it sitting around, just to make him snicker on occasion.
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Hi,
You guys ae in Lousiana right? There must be some voluteer phone work to aid in Hurricane relief. Get a portable phone and a headset, I'm sure some agency would love to have someone o make follow up calls or stuff envelopes, try the red cross I'm sure they can find a way to put him to good use!! And he'd be really helping people in need so he could feel real good about doing it.
Rich
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Hi,
You guys ae in Lousiana right? There must be some voluteer phone work to aid in Hurricane relief. Get a portable phone and a headset, I'm sure some agency would love to have someone o make follow up calls or stuff envelopes, try the red cross I'm sure they can find a way to put him to good use!! And he'd be really helping people in need so he could feel real good about doing it.
Rich
OH MY GOSH! (slaps self on forehead!) That is an excellent idea! I can't believe I didn't think about the Red Cross. I'm going to call them on Monday. Thanks!
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Video Games, Porn, Star Wars Saga/Lord of the Rings Trilogy/Indiana Jones Trilogy/The Matrix Trilogy/Aliens Quadrilogy DVDs (and maybe a bunch of comedy films too so he'll laugh), Sketch Book and pencil, Rosetta Stone Linguistic programs (he could learn ANY language quickly), comic books or Heavy Metal magazine, classic Novels, Porn. That's all that come to my mind right now, any of those things would be great if I were laid up. It's great opportunity for him to watch, read, learn or create anything that might have ever interested him. Sitting idle, watching regular TV, will make anybody crazy after a while. Hope this helps!
It's funny that you mentioned the Rosetta Stone programs 'cause he had me look those up last night. That may just be a possibility, except their not cheap!
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Video Games, Porn, Star Wars Saga/Lord of the Rings Trilogy/Indiana Jones Trilogy/The Matrix Trilogy/Aliens Quadrilogy DVDs (and maybe a bunch of comedy films too so he'll laugh), Sketch Book and pencil, Rosetta Stone Linguistic programs (he could learn ANY language quickly), comic books or Heavy Metal magazine, classic Novels, Porn. That's all that come to my mind right now, any of those things would be great if I were laid up. It's great opportunity for him to watch, read, learn or create anything that might have ever interested him. Sitting idle, watching regular TV, will make anybody crazy after a while. Hope this helps!
It's funny that you mentioned the Rosetta Stone programs 'cause he had me look those up last night. That may just be a possibility, except their not cheap!
They're worth the cost if you're serious about learning a new language. It's a really good program, it has been used by our government and many International companies. If you work it right, it could be tax deductable. For instance, if your husband works with a lot of Spanish speakers, he could said it was work related and necessary to perform his job correctly. Check with your Tax advisor. Ahhh, loopholes....